Stan Bitters: Environmental Ceramics

While at the Ace Hotel Palm Springs, one of the highlights were these large textural murals that are on each of the buildings. These awesome pieces were done by California artist, Stan Bitters. Modernism Magazine had a great feature on him awhile back (that I blogged on AT:LA), and recently, I came across his book, Environmental Ceramics.
The book documents the variety of pieces Stan created during the 60s and 70s, but what I really enjoyed are the photos of his creative process. There's tons of "behind the scenes" and "work in progress" shots that showcase just how massive many of his pieces are, and how detailed the design work. Check out these incredible bird houses! He made lots of pieces that were integrated into fountains, pools, gardens, and interior and exterior walls. The book was originally published in the mid seventies, but it's now been reprinted, and you can even get a signed copy of your own directly from his website here.
Check out more on his website.

Kate Spade Book covers

How awesome are these bookcovers (perhaps to conceal that scandously trashy novel you're reading... you know who you are, hehe)- by Kate Spade?! download them for free here (click on "downloads) What are you reading this summer?

Tord-mania!: the book

Last Christmas, HappyMundane went into a bit of a Tord Boontje frenzy as his beautiful designs were featured at Target. Holly at Decor8 sent me an email telling me that there was a book coming out about him, and I ordered one right away- Last week my copy finally came! The book documents almost all of his work and gives insight to his inspirations- all the way up to his Target collection and the present. The book is pretty extensive and thorough. Its pretty thick and substantial as well! The cover has this neat white mesh that is integrated into it. Also many of the pages are perforated with this cool pattern. I love seeing his pieces placed in a natural outside setting, as well as many of the detail shots they included. It's also fun to see his earlier work and photos of his studio and past. A must have for any Tord fan or modern design lover. Get it here:

Tupperware: Transparent

Plastic is fantastic. I have always loved Tupperware. I think because as a kid, my mom would take me with her to those "Tupperware" parties, and I loved playing with all the fun plastic tupperware toys, and opening and closing the lids to the fun colors. Plus they always had good food and someone always made jello (yum!). Did you know that it was actually because of these "parties" that Tupperware because such a success? It truly is/was modern design at an affordable price. Anyway- there is now this great book out called Tupperware:Transparent. It comes inside in a custom fitted Tupperware case! Inside is a fantastic history of Tupperware with tons and tons of cool photos from their archives. There is also a pretty comprehensive photo list of all the Tupperware products from the 1960s- through 2005. It's so fun to go through all the pics and remember which ones your family had. A definite must for anyone that loves a little retro-cool nostalgia.

Olle Eksell: swedish graphic designer

Recently purchased this amazing book of Olle Eksell, a swedish graphic designer. I picked it up at the Giant Robot store in Silverlake. I just love all the illustrations, but its from PIE books (who always put out great design books) so it's all in Japanese. However, the pictures speak for themselves. Aside from his numerous illustrations for advertising and whatnot- he also designed some beautiful textiles, and continues to do so today. I made another short flip-through video so you can see how packed the little book is. The ISBN number is : ISBN-89444-547. It's also available here.